Search

“Who The Heck Is This Guy?”

Gary and wife Eileen with Food Network’s Guy Fieri

I am Gary Saunders, CEO (that’s short for Chief Eating Officer) of the award-winning DixieDining.com. Our site is the premiere web guide for Southern restaurants and essential Dixie food sources. We have been featured in Southern Living magazine, Mobile Bay Monthly, on NPR Radio, Chowhound.com and countless other local, regional, and national media outlets.

In 1996, I became the only pro baseball General Manager ever to trade a player for a Blues LP when I dealt disgruntled slugger Andre “The Giant” Keene to the Greenville (MS) Bluesmen for a Muddy Waters record. All told, I have lived in 8 Southern states and am a published author, music & food critic, Sun Studio Recording artist, proud owner of over 800 vintage LPs, and former elephant jockey (retired with an even .500 record). Any questions yet, y’all?

Me & the great Alton Brown (Dauphin Island, AL – 2011)

My Grandmothers (Annie Mae Justice & Beulah Saunders) were really good Southern home cooks. So is my Mom (Betty Jane Saunders). I guess a little bit of their magic dust somehow rubbed off on me. I am so blessed to have been one really well fed dude for most of my time on this planet. It’s a wonder I don’t weigh 400 lbs. My friends tell me that all the time. Here’s my secret: 1) All things in moderation 2) I don’t ever chug soft drinks 3) I never eat fast food 4) I get exercise when possible 5) I only cook with olive and coconut oils and always try to avoid GMO foods 6) I am fortunate enough to come from a superior gene pool. Both grandmothers lived to be over 100 years old. Granny Saunders made it to 106!

Hangin’ with Southern Foodways Alliance’s John T. Edge (2013)

Me & our mascot, Dixie (Siesta Key, Florida, 2008)

I am a 1981 graduate of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg (GO HOKIES!!!) and a native of the utopian planned community of Reston, Virginia. DixieDining.com is now headquartered in the beautiful college town of Oxford, Mississippi – home of Ole Miss and the Southern Foodways Alliance. You can reach me anytime at gary@dixiedining.com or gary.saunders@img.com. Gimme a holler sometime.

I just wanted to thank you for your kind remarks about Mook Mills Cheese Straws. They are good aren’t they.

My company, Green2Grocer.com, is they contracted distributor for Mook Mills and I have to tell you when I first tasted them I knew we had to share them with the world (my world that is…”The South”). At that time, March of 2008, Mook Mills was a local brand mainly sold in the Shoals Area. I am proud to say that they are now carried by Publix, Kroger, Piggly Wiggly, Westerns and other fine stores, caterers, hotels and institutions in Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and Georgia.

I wish I could take full credit (Well maybe a little credit) but the taste, texture and satisfying experience of a Mook Mills Cheese Straws has spoken for itself.

It is good to know that this product is well respected and liked by your organization.

I would like to ship you some samples of some of our newer products in development for you to try along with a few bags of cheese straws to munch on while you are out and about.

Please feel free to contact me anytime with any questions about our company or any of the products we carry or are developing.

Hi Gary: My name is Al Malekovic (al@countrybobs.com) and I represent a very, very small company called Country Bob’s, Inc. We are making a great sauce called, “Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce” and we would like to get the word out about our product.
I know that review blogs are a great way to get information to the general public. I conducted a google search for food blogs and your name came and after looking at your blog, I was wondering if you would be interested in trying my sauce and perhaps reviewing it for me.

If you send me your name and address via e-mail, I would gladly send you a recipe brochure along with two bottles of Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce in hopes that you would write a review.

If you would like more information, I would be glad to respond to any questions you might have. In fact, if you are interested in interviewing me after you’ve sampled the product, I would gladly make myself available!

Fantastic blog! I work for The History Press–a publisher of local and regional history books, based in Charleston, South Carolina. If you’re interested in writing a work of historic Alabama foodways, or something similar, I’d be delighted to discuss some of our options for publication.

“Our Favorite Stuff!”

"Mui Bueno Blogs!"

Lindsey’s Chevron station on North Lamar in Oxford, MS does sell gasoline. Yet they are far more famous for their chicken salad. You heard me right — chicken salad! And you know what? It’s pretty darn good. Not sure exactly what the recipe might be. I can tell you there is lots of shredded white […]

This burger, without question, is one of my favorite dishes in North Mississippi. We have lived in Oxford going on 3 years now, but it took us a while to find this gem of a bar/restaurant. The Lamar Lounge is a part of John Currence’s Oxford Culinary Empire. At last count, Currence operated 5 eateries […]

Oxford, Mississippi is a beautiful little college town. A very Southern town. And a foodie town. For a town of its size, Oxford has lots of interesting dining choices. Especially if you enjoy deep fried, bacon laced downhome cuisine. You’d think that great home-style biscuits would be as prevalent as Hotty Toddy t-shirts on Ole […]

We took a 4-day tour around the Crescent City with the family. Although we had been there many times before, there were still things we haven’t seen … so many great places we haven’t dined. DAY ONE: Our first stop was Magazine Street, a shopping district to the south of the French Quarter from Canal […]

New Orleans has always been one of our favorite cities to visit. Not only is there a lot to do, there is a lot to eat. This particular trip with our boys was going to be a combined Dixiedining.com eating tour of New Orleans and an educational History Class field trip. Our home base was […]